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Thousands of people have turned out to celebrate the Belfast Mela festival.

The event, held in Botanic Gardens, features international music, dance, food and visual arts and is organised by ethnic arts group ArtsEkta.

Belfast Lord Mayor John Finucane described the Mela as the "biggest celebration of cultural diversity on the island of Ireland".

This year marks the 13th time the festival has taken place in the city.

The Mela, which means "to meet" in Sanskrit, runs from 12:00 BST to 18:00 BST.

ArtsEkta founder Nisha Tandon said: "The success of Mela is rooted in a desire by all communities across Belfast and beyond to be part of something that represents their own cultural identity.

"The Mela represents Belfast as the vibrant, enriched, intercultural and ambitious city it is growing to become."

Calling for more events like Belfast Mela, Ms Tandon said: "This type of work should be going on in every council and every leader should be embracing this diversity."

Mr Finucane, who led the opening procession, described the festival as "one of Belfast's best success stories".

"Every year it gets bigger and bigger", he said.

"There's music, there's dance, there's colour and I think it really does attract everybody."